Kevin Pietersen's absence will not weaken England in Lord's Test against South Africa, says Graeme Swann

England spinner Graeme Swann says Kevin Pietersen's absence for this week’s
third and final Test against South Africa at Lords will not weaken their
chances of victory.

Riding high: Andrew Strauss and the England team appeared at an Investec event at Sushisamba in the Heron Tower last night, with the Olympic stadium visible in the background

By Ed White

11:06AM BST 14 Aug 2012

The England and Wales Cricket Board dropped Pietersenafter he failed to dismiss allegations that he sent derogatory text messages to South African players about his team-mates during the drawn second Test at Headingley.

The 32-year-old has yet to confirm or deny the allegations, but Swann has insisted the saga will not impact the team’s chances.

"We need to pull in the same direction, not 10 of us doing it and one of us not," Swann said.

"Just because you lose one player, it doesn't necessarily make you a weaker team.

"In fact, since Kevin retired from limited-overs cricket, we are unbeaten in all matches in the shorter formats,"

Pietersen left Headingley the face of a storm after hinting of dressing-room unrest at a post-match press conference and refusing to give assurances that the Lord's Test would not be his last.

And Swann said he was surprised when he watched the video of last Monday’s press conference.

"I was certainly shocked by those claims. I don't know if there were developments during the week at Headingley after I left, but it was news to me,” Swann wrote in his column for The Sun.

"And, speaking to a couple of the other lads, it was news to them as well.

"I'd just say that, if there were issues, we pride ourselves on having a very open dressing room and he certainly didn't mention any problems to anyone else."

England Twenty20 captain, Stuart Broad believes the team will need to be completely focused when they take to the field and said he was disappointed the saga had distracted attention away from acknowledging Andrew Strauss’s 100th Test.

“There are not many who have done that and the captain deserves every plaudit coming his way this week,” he wrote for the Daily Mail.

“To think that he has been captain for a fair chunk of those games, with all the stresses and strains that involves, only adds to the achievement.

“The bottom line is that KP won’t be with us at Lord’s so the 11 players who take the field against South Africa have to be completely focused on ignoring any noise that may be going on off the field and getting the result we so badly need.”